


Constellations

by ChromiumHeart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Armitage Hux Has Feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Grief, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, Kylux Valentines Exchange, M/M, Mind Reading, Prompt Fill, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:05:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13506918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromiumHeart/pseuds/ChromiumHeart
Summary: Kylo Ren is in quite a state when he wakes in the medbay following the destruction of Starkiller Base. Luckily for him, he isn't alone.





	Constellations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [otterspots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/otterspots/gifts).



> This is for the Kylux Valentines Exchange 2018! This is the prompt I received; 
> 
> "Kylo awakens after being saved from the destruction of Starkiller Base. Despite the physical pain he is in, he reaches out with the force searching against all hope to find his father's life force and finds nothing. He doesn't want to cry, but the tears come anyway, the crushing weight of what he had done hitting him all at once. It isn't until he feels a hand on his shoulder that he realizes there is someone else in the room with him... general Hux of all people."
> 
> I hope you love it, Otterspots!

As Kylo Ren came back into consciousness, the first thing he noticed other than the overwhelming pain was the slight ringing in his ears. A constant buzz that would wane from ear to ear, slowly fading the more his body woke. He tried to open his eyes, burning in protest and squeezing shut again at the bright lights of the destroyers medbay. He groaned, and his whole body seemed to sing lowly with pain. 

His brain felt muddled; like it was filled with cotton, thoughts fuzzy and distorted. How long had he been out? He forced himself to open his eyes again, pupils dilating against the light and making his head throb every time his heart beat. 

He could feel the bacta tape on his skin, pulling the lightsaber wound tightly together on his face, down his neck and onto his shoulder. 

Kylo never thought of himself as particularly attractive, and was comfortable hiding behind his mask. Now with the scar that would be left behind from the lightsaber across his features, he would be all too happy to shield himself further away from the galaxy. He knew what people thought when they walked past him; they wondered what kind of monster laid beneath the black mask and thick robes. 

_"Take off that mask. You don't need it." He hadn't heard his fathers voice since he was just a boy. How they'd both aged; Kylo growing into a man and Han greying at the temples, lines prominent around his eyes and mouth._

_Kylo held his breath for a beat. "What do you think you'll see if I do?" He asked through the vocorder, shielding the sound of his true voice._

_"The face of my son." Han's voice wavered with emotion and Kylo was taken aback; it took him a moment to collect himself before he reached up and pressed the joints that held the mask in place._

_It hissed as it loosened and he lifted it off slowly, dark eyes meeting his fathers own. This was the first time Han had seen Ben since he was just a boy._

Kylo's hand suddenly shot up as he desperately searched for a sign of his father. A thought, a heartbeat, anything. The Force dug and prodded, but only revealed the truth; that Kylo wasn't dreaming. His father had made the ultimate sacrifice for him. Snoke had promised that once Han Solo was gone, he wouldn't hurt any longer and his training would be complete.

Instead, it shattered his very soul in two. 

Kylo grit his teeth, getting up from the bed and ignoring the agonizing pain in his side. Chewbacca had the chance to kill him; he was a deadly shot, but he didn't take it. He couldn't. He had loved Ben too. Instead the bowcaster had punched a devastating hole in his side, tearing through flesh and leaving him with a reminder of the day he had killed his father. 

The day his father took all of his sons suffering, all of his pain, and allowed him to end his life. 

He shouted in agony, arm still outstretched as he walked towards the closest transparisteel panel, stars streaking the sky as they passed. He put his fist into the bowcaster wound like he had done in the forest of Starkiller Base, trying to use the pain as a focus for the Force. He continued to search for something, _anything_ that was uniquely Han Solo, desperate for some respite from his emotional pain. The wound in his side pulsed as he dug his knuckles into it brutally, disturbing the healing flesh. 

"Please," he whispered, pushing against the wound harder. "Please!" 

His eyes burned fiercely with unshed tears. He wouldn't cry for that smuggler. He couldn't. Snoke had _promised_ that this would fix his emotional turmoil, but it had only made it worse. Tears tracked down his cheeks despite his best efforts, and he finally let out an anguished cry, hand dropping to rest on the transparisteel. He leaned forward until his forehead pressed against it, too, his body wracked with silent sobs. 

His father was dead. And it was his fault. 

Kylo's whole body stiffened when he felt the press of a leather glove on his shoulder and felt the concern practically dripping off of the man behind him. His free hand came up to frantically wipe at his face, not wanting anyone to see him in this state. 

General Hux was behind him, and gave a comforting squeeze to his shoulder before letting go. He had never seen this much of the Knight of Ren before, standing in the medbay in only his black issued boxer briefs. 

Green eyes scanned the exposed expanse of skin in front of him almost greedily as Kylo's back was turned, peppered with scars and several fresh bruises. Moles and freckles were clustered together here and there like Kylo wore the constellation of his soul on his flesh. His skin looked sinfully soft, and his hair swept over his shoulders, the ends barely kissing the skin. His shoulders were broad and his arms were thick and sculpted. 

He was practically a work of art. 

As Kylo turned, Hux's eyes went first to the bowcaster wound, bloody and irritated under the gauze wrapping. He guided Kylo back to his bed without a word and laid him back down before going to a supply cabinet and coming back with some fresh gauze and medical tape. 

They didn't speak as Hux peeled back the bloody gauze and re-dressed his wound, then fetched a droid to administer some additional painkillers. 

Kylo had watched Hux the whole time with cautious, red-rimmed eyes. Usually they fought; at each other's throats over Snoke's orders or Kylo's temper. This time though, Kylo seemed to notice another side to the General; someone who seemed to actually _care_. He didn't notice the way Hux's eyes slid over the curious dip of his hips, a defined chest or the way skin and muscle stretched and contracted beautifully with each breath. 

Slowly, he eased into the peripherals of Hux's mind as the droid monitored Kylo's vitals. There was pain there, concern, and... something else. He pushed a little more, and Hux brought a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. There was a prickling feeling that spread across his forehead that he considered was just a headache beginning from all the stress. 

Kylo stared ahead as he searched gingerly through Hux's mind, pulling thoughts of him out to see them. When they first met, Hux had been intimidated, and often irritated or frustrated on their subsequent meetings. It seemed over time the irritation seemed to wane, and Hux tolerated him more. There was a curiosity there, a spark of interest that was deeply suppressed whenever Snoke was near. Then, he found a memory from just hours before, on Starkiller. 

_With Snoke's guidance, Hux and the small transport of troopers had found Kylo easily on Starkiller. Hux held his greatcoat closed around his throat as he walked down the ramp of the transport, eyes narrowed against the cold wind and whipping snow. It tousled his brilliant hair with each sweep, undoing the General's usually perfect coiffure._

_Through the bare trees that stretched like trembling skeletons they walked, finding the body of the Knight bleeding heavily in the snow. Hux barely even knew he had broken into a sprint until he was kneeling next to Kylo's seemingly broken body._

_"You'd better not be dead, Ren." He whispered, taking off a glove and checking his pulse point. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was there, thudding away heavily even as the snow stained crimson underneath dark robes._

_Hux felt a pang of worry deep in his gut as the troopers arrived._

_"Grab a limb and get him up. Gently." Hux warned the troopers, who each grabbed a limb to hoist up the impossibly large man._

_They carried him swiftly to the transport, blood leaving tiny droplets on the way like a grim breadcrumb trail. They laid him on the floor of the transport and quickly got it into the air, and back to the fleet for some emergency medical attention._

_Hux wrapped Kylo in a blanket to keep him warm and applied pressure to the wound on his side so he wouldn't bleed out. He felt nauseous with worry as blood oozed from the thick fabric of the tunic onto his gloves. Kylo seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness, fingers curling to fists as he muttered nonsense before his head lulled to the side. His full, beautiful lips were tinged blue, cracked from the unforgiving weather and his whole body shook. From cold or shock, Hux wasn't quite sure._

_"You can't die like this." Hux whispered low enough so that the troops wouldn't hear, "Hell, this is the first time I've ever seen you without the damn mask. Don't know why you wear that stupid thing..."_

_He reached up and brushed hair back from the angry gash on Kylo's face. It wasn't fair - how was the man that infuriated him and fought him on every decision be so good looking? How dare he even hide these features behind that mask... Hux was helplessly captivated by him and he didn't know what to do. All he knew was that Kylo better live, because he was going to convince him to never wear that mask again, somehow._

"I said, do you feel better now? You look flushed." 

Hux's clipped tone shook Kylo from the others thoughts, realizing now that his cheeks had heated in a blush when he realized what Hux truly thought of him. Even with his face cut open and his body bruised and scarred, Hux had found attraction in him. It scared and thrilled him to his very bones. 

He shook his head, eyes welling up again. He dug his nails into his palms to try and distract himself, but he could feel his shoulders starting to betray him as his breathing changed. Hux's brow creased. 

"Ren, what is going on?" 

Kylo shut his eyes and rest his head back against the pillow. He swallowed past the painful lump in his throat, debating whether or not he should tell Hux what was going on. It couldn't get much worse, he supposed. Snoke was probably going to have his head for this. 

"He said if I killed my father that my conflict would end." He admitted, his voice low and rumbling through his trembling breaths, "But it made it worse. He let me take his life... Snoke is going to kill me." 

Hux chewed on his bottom lip a little. How anyone could have sympathy for killing a rebel was beyond him, especially when he was looking at the extensive damage done to Kylo by them. But he had hated his father, and celebrated the day the wretched man's life came to a terrible end.

"You aren't the one who lost Starkiller." Hux said with a roll of his eyes. 

Kylo was silent for a moment, "I suppose he will execute both of us." 

Hux's lips pressed together in thought. "No, not you. You're his apprentice. You failed, but you can learn from your failures. We lost Starkiller because of a mistake of mine." 

"What if I don't want to be his apprentice any longer?" Kylo snapped, and Hux's eyes went slightly wide. 

"Silence yourself, Ren. Treason _will_ get you killed."

Kylo looked at the General, realizing for the first time that his hair wasn't its usual perfect self; it was sticking up in several places, not gelled properly, and his tunic didn't look as crisp and perfect as it usually was. 

"Where were you before this?" He asked. 

"The bridge." 

"Don't lie to me, General." 

Hux swallowed, "I was... I had just stepped out for a cup of caf." 

Kylo raised a questioning eyebrow, "And before that?" 

Hux rolled his eyes. "In this kriffing chair, Ren, waiting for your stubborn ass to wake up." 

"Why?"

Kylo watched as Hux's jaw tensed; he had seen that tic many times before on the bridge. Hux was usually very stoic, but hiding behind that mask were dark eyes that had watched the red haired General closely and curiously. He was familiar with the way Hux looked when he was irritated, how he carried himself when he was tired, or how rigid his back went when he was determined. 

Hux prayed that Kylo wouldn't notice the flush of colour that came to his cheeks. _I wanted to make sure you wouldn't die on me. I didn't want the first time I saw the real you to be my last._ He thought. 

"I didn't want the First Order to have to absorb the costs of damage to the medical bay if you woke up and decided to throw one of your tantrums." He said instead. 

Kylo looked at him, mildly amused. "Was there another reason?" 

If looks could kill, well, Hux would have probably killed him a dozen times over by now. Green eyes were mere slits, and the bloom of redness across Hux's pale features seemed to climb down his neck as well, disappearing under the neck of his tunic. Kylo waited for the General to give, but the man's jaw locked and he sat silent, staring at a spot past Kylo instead of looking at him. 

He huffed, sitting up with some difficulty and wrapped a hand around Hux's wrist. It was then that he realized how small his stature was compared to him; why the General always moved about so proudly in his tunic or gaberwool greatcoat. They hid the slender frame of him and Kylo barely caught himself biting his bottom lip at the thought of how stunning Hux would look without his uniform on. How _vulnerable_ he could look with his true self revealed, exposed only for a lovers eyes. 

There was more force behind the tug than intended, but it caused Hux to lean in close enough for Kylo to claim his prize. He brazenly pressed his lips to Hux's, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He reached out with the Force gently, and Hux's mind practically sang to him. He slipped a hand behind the others neck, deepening the kiss, a tongue asking for passage. Hux allowed it. 

Kylo couldn't stop the small noise of appreciation the first time he tasted Hux, their tongues sliding against one another's. He had been with others before, but not since he became Kylo Ren, and it felt like he was starting all over again. Beautifully brand new. And Hux's mind read with all of the intimate thoughts that kept him company late at night - the ones he used to hide with angered clips to Kylo, but there had been a curiosity that had been smouldering for a while that had now ignited into an inferno. 

When the kiss finally broke they were both panting softly, and Kylo pressed his forehead to Hux's for a moment before easing himself back onto the bed to take pressure off of his side. Hux couldn't help but notice the swell of Kylo's already beautiful lips; how they went red and glossy from their kisses. They'd regained their healthy colour and thensome. He flushed slightly again, a hand coming up absently to attempt to smooth his wild red hair down. 

"I should get back to my duties. I left Mitaka in charge." Hux said suddenly, standing and straightening his tunic in a desperate attempt to pull the wrinkles out. 

"Stay." Kylo said, grasping Hux by the wrist again, "Please." 

The General's lips pressed together again and he contemplated his choice for a moment before sitting back down again. Kylo's wrist moved from Hux's wrist to his gloved hand, tracing his fingertips through the soft leather idly. 

"About earlier..." Hux began slowly, not wanting to anger or upset the Knight. 

Kylo closed his eyes for a moment and a dull, emotional pain throbbed from somewhere deep in his chest. His mind flashed images of the saber, of his fathers face, and the words he had said. 

"He's gone." Kylo affirmed, "As Snoke wished for him to be. When I'm healed enough I'll complete my training and I'll be able to give my full self to the power of the Dark Side." He glanced to Hux then, his fingers weaving between the leather and giving a squeeze. "I've seen visions, General. Of you, at my side. And we will rule the galaxy. Together." 

Hux swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat. Was it anxiousness or desire? He could feel his head swim like he had too much wine at the thought of himself being in an even higher position of power. At Kylo Ren's side. Two men who Snoke tried to pit against one another bonding and becoming more powerful than the current Supreme Leader could ever imagine. He was obsessed with it. Drunk on it. His pupils were big, enough that one might mistake his reaction for arousal but it was desire of a different form. A desire to snuff out the Resistance and become the ultimate power in the galaxy. 

"If you wish to rule," Hux said lowly, "You should probably work on healing first. And if you wish for me to be at your side, you should let me go do my job as a General." 

Kylo's full lips twitched up into a smile and he leaned up again, grabbing Hux in a display of power, their lips crushing themselves together hard enough to steal a gasp from the General's lungs. Hux responded with a nip to Kylo's bottom lip and the kiss finally broke again. The Knight smiled. 

"Well, General. I suppose you are fit enough to return to duty. However I need to speak with you in my quarters when your shift ends." 

Hux straightened up, his pupils still blown wide with desire of two kinds now, his mind filled with the possibilities of what might happen once they were truly alone. He simply nodded and took his leave, allowing Kylo to rest some more. 

Kylo's very soul still ached with the truth of what he had done in an attempt to fix himself and bring more power to the Dark Side, but now there was Hux. He seemed to be the rope in between the two severed halves of his soul, stretched thin and apparently willing to do almost anything to keep him together. 

How the hatred for one another that Snoke very much promoted had turned had Kylo smirking wolfishly. Perhaps that was why Snoke tried to keep them at one another's throats - a wild angry Knight and a rabid cur were more a threat to him than anyone else. 

Kylo wanted his spot on the Throne, Snoke's Throne, and he wanted Hux commanding at his side. If there was one thing Kylo was sure of, it was that he would stop at nothing until he had all that he wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to say hi or send me a fic request [on Tumblr](http://chromiumhearts.tumblr.com)!


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